You probably aren't aware of the historical connotations it suggests. Read the link below and feel free to comment.
What are your thoughts on the tweet he pulled from Twitter?
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/gap-manifest-destiny-t-shirt-offends-customers-190532143.html
Before I read the article, I had no idea what "Manifest Destiny" meant, or suggested. After reading the article, I am sickened that GAP would even think of putting such a shirt out, never mind actually doing so! The designer of the shirt, Mark Mcnairy, tweeted in response to the offended was " Manifest Destiny! Survival of the fittest!". He tweeted later, after deleting the previous one, that he did not mean what was said and that he was just upset from being called racist. My opinion on that? How does one make a shirt with that slogan and be seen as not racist? How does one think of putting tweet out, such as his first one, and still be considered not racist? I am not racist and such a thing would never even come to my mind.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I wonder is how this shirt was even approved of and put out in their new line? Did no one within the company know what the saying was referencing to? Did they not care? Are the higher ranking people within the company racist? I really hope it was just that they did not know what the saying meant, but than I would have to ask why they did not ask, or look it up. You would think they would be a little more careful about what goes out in their company line. All in all though, I am disgusted that such a thing was allowed to be brought out. I am very happy that they have since gotten ride of it, but it never should of even came out.
This is my weekly post.
ReplyDeleteFor many Canadian and American people this shirt wouldn’t of bothered hem. For one they probably don’t know what it means or they don’t care what it means. Frankly, I would want to know what a shirt means before I purchase it. So for the majority I think it’s the fact that we don’t know what this term means.
This term was first used in 1845, to describe the essence of the mindset when Americas started their expansion westward. (1) It was used by a newspaper editor named John O’Sullivan.(1) The mindset for the settlers at this time was that “God himself blessed the growth of the American nation.”(1) Basically term was used to describe how the americans tried to christianize the tribes of the west, such as the hispanic who ruled Texas.(1)These tribes were thought of or seen as “backward”.(1) During this production of change that some might call the “American Holocaust”(2) they were basically trying to remove Native American culture. There were five main Native American tribes that were removed from where they lived they were called the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, Choctaw, and Muskogee.(2) All these tribes were living in the section of the states and were removed and replaced in Oklahoma.(2) This removal system was called the Trail of Tears.(2) Out of the 17,000 Choctaws 6,000 died. (2) Many of the Seminole tribe refused to move and fought a ten year battle. Some of the Seminole people went to Oklahoma while others retreated to Florida.(2) The Muskogee fought for a year but then were forcible removed to Oklahoma after that year. (2) The Chickasaw people sold their that and joined the Choctaw Nation west of the Mississippi.(2) Finally the Cherokee Nation had the most brutal battle. Eventually they were removed and walked all the way to Oklahoma around a thousand mile walk. Of the 13,000 Cherokee people 4,000 would die because of starvation, disease, and murder.(2)
These events are something that the US government should be ashamed of. I am so upset that such a respectful company like the GAP would even think of making a shirt like that. You don’t see any company making shirts about the holocaust in Germany. What makes them think that this is alright though. Well I’ll tell you something it’s not! These Native Americans deserve this land just as much. No wait they should deserve this land more than we do! What do we do? As Americans feeling threatened we decided to basically kill them all so it can be just Americans living in the U.S.A. That is basically the same thing Hitler did, just on a bigger scale. I bet that if you walked down the street and asked random people what manifest destiny means probably 1 out of 10 would know. While if you ask those same people what the Holocaust is 10 out of 10 would know. The way we treat Native Americans is just wrong! It’s not right and needs to be changed they were on this land first so technically we are intruding into their home.
I think that Mark McNairy is an idiot!! How inconsiderate could you be. That tweet was so offensive he should be charged or something! I’m just so pissed off that he would say that. For one I would put money on it that Native Americans were probably more ‘fit‘ then the Americans. They would know how to live on the land better. Fend for themselves. If Native Americans had the advanced technology that the Americans had the Americans wouldn’t of had a chance. That tweet was utterly stupid and rude. I am so glad that GAP discontinued the shirt and I hope that Mark gets fired or something. this concept was just wrong.
1) http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp
2) http://somethgblue.hubpages.com/hub/Manifest-Destiny-vs-Native-American-Culture
This shirt is a simple example of a company not following very basic guidelines for reviewing of their designs. It could also have been allowed to slip through due to racist superiors. GAP should launch a formal investigation to figure out why this was allowed to occur in the first place. While I commend them for getting this shirt off the shelves almost instantly, more care needs to be taken by the Gap in the future to ensure this does not happen again
ReplyDelete